Chapter 3

After making a total spectacle of herself, Allison decided to stay in her seat until nearly everyone else left the auditorium. She couldn't bear the thought of standing in the bottlenecked lines waiting to get out the door.

Barclay, on the other hand, made his move to leave the second the professor started to leave the stage. He smiled at Allison, said, "Catch ya later," and then high-fived one of his buddies on the way to the door.

Getting a bit paranoid, Allison wondered if Barc was simply saying hi to a friend, or was secretly letting him know that he had made a move on her in the dark. She shook her head with a laugh. As if making a move on someone like me was something to brag about, she thought with a tinge of sadness. She rolled her eyes, gathered her things, and then made her way two buildings over to American Lit. Oh how she was dreading that dry class, but it was something English majors couldn't easily escape.

As it turned out, the class was fairly small--just a dozen or so students. Like grade schoolers, the professor made them scoot their desks into a large circle to "facilitate communication" as the pretentious instructor put it. Just glancing around the room Allison knew she was in for it. Of course there was the geeky set with glasses, but the scariest ones were the preppy guys in branded polo shirts and chinos. Not jeans like everyone else on campus wore. Heavens no. Almost equally terrifying was the trio of nicely dressed women who stuck their noses up in the air and only spoke with one another. Allison sighed, wishing this class were over and she was on her way to ENGL 369. Now there was a class she really couldn't wait for. She wanted to be a writer, and any other class she took was little more than a price to pay for getting there.

Allison pulled out her journal and began free writing as the rest of the students chattered in their cliques waiting for class to start. She dreaded the phony commentary and literature analysis that was sure to come, so she focused on her honors creative writing class instead, and prayed that none of the students in this class were in it.

Allison really had no right to judge these people, and she knew it. After all, she hadn't even seen them in action yet. It was just a gut feeling she had... Allison sighed as the old cliché "You can't tell a book by its cover" came to mind. While that may not be the best way to navigate through life, at least she was consistent. Allison didn't think she'd be accepted by guys because of her plain Jane appearance either. With a shrug, she went back to writing in her journal.

Mercifully, the time passed quickly. The class discussion was a blur as Allison was only half-listening, but she promised herself she'd pay closer attention next time. She was simply too excited about her next class to concentrate.

As she trotted down the stairs toward the building's exit, Allison ran into Kaija. "Hey, roomie!" she called up the steps with a wave. Allison's eyes lit up at the sight of a friend. Of course she probably wouldn't be a friend any longer if she knew what Barclay had done in Psych class, but she wasn't even going there.

"What's a music major like you doing in a building like this?" Allison teased, catching up to her.

Kaija giggled. "Freshman comp," she responded simply. "Don't you have to take it, too? Every freshman does."

Allison shook her head. "I tested out of it."

"Well excuuuuuuse me!" Kaija teased, sticking her nose up in the air for fun. The girls laughed as they stood on the walkway in front of the English building. Kaija glanced at her watch. "I've got Band until 5 o'clock. Wanna meet for dinner around 5:15?"

It was cutting it tight time-wise for Allison's 6:30 creative writing class across campus, but she would rather gulp her food with a friend than dine alone. "Yeah, I'll see ya there!" She waved as Kaija ran in the direction of the Fine Arts Center.

Deciding to kill some time before dinner, Allison headed over to the Student Union building. A trip to the campus book store was in order, she decided. While she had already purchased the necessary textbooks and supplies, she was in the mood to shop.

Wandering around the book store was a blast for Allison. The kinds of things they managed to print the school's mascot on amazed her. In addition to the usual t-shirts and sweatshirts, there were MSU woven blankets, imprinted golf balls, shot classes, coffee mugs, mouse pads, notebooks, teddy bears, baby bibs, an MSU-branded version of Monopoly, CDs of the school's marching band... The list went on and on. It was easy to see that Allison could do the lion's share of her holiday shopping right here!

Seeing it was closing in on 5 o'clock, Allison proceeded to the front of the store. Then she spotted it-one lone Harlequin romance novel in a display rack by the cash register. It seemed odd that a college book store would carry such a book, but Allison was intrigued by it just the same. "Passion in the Park by Sally Collins" she read, picking up one of the three remaining copies of the book.

She flipped the book over so she could read the blurb on the back. Ah, the story was set in Maryland, that's why the store carried the book. Local interest, she assumed. Allison had always wanted to read such a book, but it wasn't exactly something you did as a Catholic school student. But she wasn't in Catholic school anymore, she reminded herself. As if she needed to justify her actions further, she reminded herself that the book was set locally. Could be very educational, she decided with a grin.

Allison purchased the book, and then tucked it safely away in her backpack for later reading.

After a nice leisurely dinner with Kaija and Barclay, Allison headed back to the English building for her creative writing class. She was so excited, that she could have sworn her heart started to beat faster as she approached the room. Finally, she stood outside the door of room 222, a room that was located at the far end of the building on the second floor.

Taking a deep breath to chase away the nerves, she reached for the doorknob to enter. Room 222 was unlike any classroom she had ever seen. Instead of being furnished with desks or tables and chairs, soft sofas lined the edges of the modest sized carpeted room.

Allison was the first one there, except for a young sandy blond-haired guy with amazing green eyes who sat in the corner in a single overstuffed chair. "Uh, isn't that chair meant for the teacher?" she asked, her eyes skimming the other seats in the room. He was clearly sitting in the most prominent location, and being the only chair in the room, it seemed logical that it was meant for the lecturing professor.

"Hi, nice to meet you, too," the man returned, flashing a dimpled smile. He stood up to shake her hand.

Allison blushed. Leave it to her to meet a hunk of a guy and instead of introducing herself to him, she accuses him of sitting in the wrong place. God Delaney, no wonder why you've never had a boyfriend, she thought, her cheeks growing even warmer.

"Colin Salinger," he introduced, his warm smooth hand gripping hers firmly.

Her mouth fell open, just a bit, as she stared up at him, momentarily forgetting her name. "Uh, Allison Delaney," she finally croaked, mesmerized by those incredible green eyes. Then it hit her, like an icy snowball making contact with soft warm skin. "Colin Salinger?" she repeated, her eyes widening. Jesus, could she have made a bigger fool of herself?

Colin nodded quietly, as he returned to the spot that was indeed his as the teacher of the course.

Allison opened her mouth to apologize, but thought better of it as the door opened and more students straggled in. At that moment, she made a conscious decision to sit as far away from Professor Salinger as she could. She would have rather blended into the walls or left altogether, but this class was far too important to her. Hopefully she hadn't blown her chances of passing it by acting like such an idiot.

Once the last of the students had filed in, Professor Salinger stood up in front of his chair. "Good evening, I'm Colin Salinger. Welcome to English 369: Honors Creative Writing." The class giggled, but Allison couldn't figure out why. She made a mental note to ask Kaija about it when she got home.

"As you know," Professor Salinger continued, "the twelve of you were hand-selected for this class based on your writing samples. Given that, you can rest assured I'll be pushing you to your limits." The professor, who Allison was certain, had to be the youngest teacher on campus, wandered over to the window, looked out, and then turned around. "Now open your notebooks," he directed, sitting back down. "We're going to try a little exercise," he explained, gesturing with his hands as he spoke.

The sounds of backpack zippers and turning notebook pages filled the room with a flurry of activity. Once everyone was settled, Professor Salinger went on with the assignment. "Being advanced writing students, you've all undoubtedly heard the expression 'show, don't tell' ad nauseum." He looked around the room at the nodding heads for confirmation. "What we're going to do this evening is try to heighten your awareness of your environment." He clasped his hands together and raised them to his lips, appearing to gather his thoughts. "What I want you to do is close your eyes for just two minutes and open all of your senses. Experience every sound, smell, and sensation around you. When I tell you to open your eyes, I want you to write down everything you remember-the tickle of a fly landing on your arm; the smell of a classmate's cologne; the sound of someone sneezing... every little thing you experience during that two minutes. Any questions?" When no one raised their hand or spoke up, Professor Salinger looked at his watch, paused, and then said, "Ready, set, go!"